The brain flew toward Ron, and something like ribbons came out of the brain.
"Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it —" said Ron, watching it disgorge its gaudy innards. "Harry, come and touch it, bet it's weird —"
"RON, NO!"
Harry tried to stop his friend, but it was too late. The moment the tentacles touched Ron, they began to wrap around his arms like ropes.
"Harry, look what's happen — no — no, I don't like it — no, stop — stop —"
But the thin ribbons were spinning around Ron's chest now.
"Diffindo!" yelled Hermione, trying to sever the feelers wrapping themselves tightly around Ron. He fell over, still thrashing against his bonds.
"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" screamed Ginny.
A jet of red light flew from one of the Death Eater's wands and hit her squarely in the face. She keeled over sideways and lay there unconscious.
"STUBEFY!" shouted Neville, wheeling around and waving Grace's wand at the oncoming Death Eaters. "STUBEFY, STUBEFY!"
Nothing happened.
One of the Death Eaters shot their own Stunning Spell at Neville; it missed him by inches. Harry ran away, Bellatrix running after him. Harry let Hermione and Neville try to get Ron off the ropes, while he ran off with the prophecy.
He entered a new room, but in the same instant the floor began to fade. He fell down the stone steps, until in the pit where he landed, he found again the stone arch he had seen before.
The five Death Eaters who were in the Brain Room came down to Harry.
"Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy. "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy..."
"Let — let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" Harry said desperately.
A few of the Death Eaters laughed.
"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," Lucius said. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you... or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"
"He's dot alone!" Neville shouted. "He's still god be!"
"Neville — no — go back to the others —"
"STUBEFY!" Neville shouted again. "STUBEFY ! STUBE —"
One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from behind, pinioning his arms to his sides. He struggled and kicked; several of the Death Eaters laughed.
"It's Longbottom, isn't it?" sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause... Your death will not come as a great shock..."
"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy..."
"I DOE YOU HAB!" roared Neville, and he fought so hard against his captor's encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone Stun him!"
"No, no, no," Bellatrix said. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents... Unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy —"
"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" roared Neville. "DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, HARRY!"
Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"
Neville screamed. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony.
"That was just a taster!" Bellatrix said. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"
Harry did not have to think; there was no choice. He held out his hand with the prophecy to Malfoy.
Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley.
Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Harry did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but dived off the dais out of the way. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order. Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, Harry could see Neville crawling along.
"Are you okay?" yelled Harry.
"Yes," said Neville, trying to pull himself up.
"And Ron?"
"I dink he's all right — Hermione was still helping him fighd the brain when I left —"
A spell almost hit them, making a crater in the stone floor. An arm came from nowhere and grabbed Harry by the neck.
"Give it to me," growled a voice in his ear, "give me the prophecy —"
Through watering eyes he saw Sirius dueling with a Death Eater some ten feet away. Kingsley was fighting two at once; Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix. The man's free hand was groping toward the hand in which Harry was grasping the prophecy.
"AARGH!"
Neville had come lunging out of nowhere: Unable to articulate a spell, he had jabbed Grace's wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask. The man relinquished Harry.
"STUPEFY!" Harry screamed.
The Death Eater keeled over backward and his mask slipped off. It was Macnair, Buckbeak's would-be killer, one of his eyes now swollen and bloodshot.
"Thanks!" Harry said to Neville.
Harry slipped on something round and hard. When he went to look, it was Moody's eye on the floor. Alastor was lying on the ground, bleeding.
"Tarantallegra!" Dolohov shouted, his wand pointing at Neville. "Now, Potter —"
He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had used on Grace just as Harry yelled, "Protego!"
Harry felt something streak across his face like a blunt knife but the force of it knocked him sideways, and he fell over Neville's jerking legs, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell.
"Accio Proph —"
Sirius hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder. Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling. Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on Harry and Grace. Harry yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!"
"Nice one!" shouted Sirius. "Now I want you to get out of —"
They both ducked again. A jet of green light had narrowly missed Siriuss; across the room Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, and Bellatrix went after her.
"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix.
"Can you stand?" he bellowed in Neville's ear. "Put your arm round my neck —"
Neville's legs were still flying in every direction. Out of nowhere, a man lunged at them. Both fell backward.
"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" Malfoy yelled.
"No — get — off — me... Neville — catch it!"
Neville spun himself around on his back and scooped the ball to his chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, "Impedimenta!"
Malfoy was blasted off his back. As Harry scrambled up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now dueling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Neville again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them.
"Harry, round up the others and GO!"
Harry seized Neville by the shoulder of his robes and lifted him bodily onto the first tier of stone steps.
"Come on!" Harry said desperately.
He gave another stupendous heave and Neville's robes tore all along the left seam — the small spun-glass ball dropped from his pocket and before either of them could catch it, one of Neville's floundering feet kicked it.
"Harry, I'b sorry!" cried Neville.
"It doesn't matter!" Harry shouted. "Just try and stand, let's get out of —"
"Dubbledore!" said Neville.
Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry.
. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled.
The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. Sirius fell on the dais and disappeared.
"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed. "SIRIUS!"
But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry —"
"We can still reach him —"
"It's too late, Harry — He's gone."